Van Zweden to become New York Philharmonic's music director

NEW YORK (AP) — Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden has been hired to succeed Alan Gilbert as music director of the New York Philharmonic.

Gilbert, who began in 2008-09, said last February that he intended to leave after the 2016-17 season. The orchestra said Wednesday that van Zweden will be its music director designate in 2017-18 and will become music director starting in 2018-19.

As music director, van Zweden will conduct the orchestra for 12 weeks annually plus tours. During his tenure, the philharmonic hopes to renovate newly renamed David Geffen Hall, whose acoustics have been criticized since the building opened on the campus of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1962.

Van Zweden, 55, became music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 2008-09. Dallas said Wednesday he will step down from that post at the end of the 2017-18 season and will have the title of conductor laureate from 2018-19 through 2020-21. He also has been music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since the 2012-13 season.

Van Zweden studied at The Juilliard School and was 19 when he became the youngest concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Netherlands. He started conducting in 1995 after encouragement from Leonard Bernstein, the New York Philharmonic's music director from 1958-69. Van Zweden made his New York Philharmonic debut in April 2012.

Esa-Pekka Salonen, the New York Philharmonic's composer in residence, said he didn't want to become its music director.